Adding a sub woofer?

[JoeB1]

Hi,

I feel like upgrading my sound system. I'm happy with the standard set up, except that there's no bass. Any time I play a sound with heavy bass, it sounds crap.

Would I need to buy an amplifier as well or can I get away with just a woofer to stick in my boot?

I'd appreciate any recommendations. I'm not looking for anything window shattering, just an improvement over the PC speaker sound I get when I play a bassy song!

 

[evilrob]

Jackwest100 on here bought an active sub for less than £150, kept the standard front speakers, whacked a Sony headunit in he had lying around and it sounds amazing. You might want to tap him up and find out what make he got.

 

[Ginger Tom]

Fusion, iirc

 

[ElDude at Allison Automotive]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

 

[bunch1980]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Yep I second this advice, I find mine sounds really great when stopped lol as soon as move need to turn up volume and its trying to hear it over road noise. Cant complain to much puma is 10x times better than classic mini, but could still do with a lot of sound insulating.

A 12" sub worked wonders for a easy bass, but does take up a fair bit of boot space.

 

[Shanosburgess]

im just building a box for my boot, it is a bit messy but its getting there lol
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=17253&start=75" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
had spare time and some old kit lying around, nice thing is it uses the boot space to its best potential

 

[bunch1980]

Looks great wish I had know how to do same, as mine takes up a chunk of boot space and being a wedge box does not really fit in neatly in puma. The stealth box already made is far to pricy for puma but very nice idea!
I might even try one my self but make a shaped mdf box to.

 

[Cherie]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Unless you're an audiophile, most people probably won't even hear the difference the extra sound deadening would make.

I'm not much of an audiophile, but I had a Kenwood head unit and amp in my Puma, with Dal's old JL sub in an autoacoustics moulded enclosure (the one that Rob now has in his Thunder). You can tweak the output from the stereo to the amp to isolate the bass, and it sounded better than standard.

It all depends on how much you want to spend, and what your expectations are.

 

[Shanosburgess]

I think one of the most important jobs to do if you are adding bass to a car, is to ensure that you make your way round tightening up lose bits (or adding stickyback foam tape between bits), I can think of nothing worse than hearing a car rattling when it hits low bits (I live in essex home of the rattling number plate lol)

I have done the sound deadning everywhere thing and it was nice, but very time consuming and expensive, and unless you are running SPL tests/competitions its a bit OTT, having said that if you have your back seat out and are treating the rust in the arch it wont hurt to stick a layer in there.

I guess everything comes down to budget and listening preference, if you just want something to add a bit of punch to your sound, an amped sub in the boot will help, if you want it too be amazing spend the time and money (can run in to hundreds even thousands) to do it properly.

 

[Anonymous]

I can think of nothing worse than hearing a car rattling when it hits low bits (I live in essex home of the rattling number plate lol)

Like all the little boy racers with their fat exhausts and noisy stereos... you can usually hear the car rattling down the road before you see it!!

 

[ElDude at Allison Automotive]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Unless you're an audiophile, most people probably won't even hear the difference the extra sound deadening would make.
.

you'd have to be deaf not to notice the difference... it's quite noticable :idea:

 

[bunch1980]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Unless you're an audiophile, most people probably won't even hear the difference the extra sound deadening would make.
.

you'd have to be deaf not to notice the difference... it's quite noticable :idea:

Lol I have low frequency hearing loss, and I hear all the rattles and road noise a lot, and also I guess probably have my bass higher due to low frequency hearing loss.

 

[Gal]

If you really get into your ice, then I would lay sound deadening in the boot area, under the carpet and up to the dash. Doors and side panels, boot lid and roof. The amount of noise when it is raining hard is silly. You can buy some latex paint also to paint on top, but it takes a few days to properly set and smells a bit. When painting use cheap as chips brushes as they are no thinners for it. Wear old clothes and cover anything you don't want splashed. Also add some celotex (sp) in places where there is a lot of air space. Will keep the car warmer when cold too. Even using foil backed bubble wrap helps.

All this I put in my camper van. toasty and quiet at the same time. All panels sounded solid if tapped

 

[Radiantpaper]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Can you tell me how I can do this?

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

First of all you'll need to dynamt the doors and speaker bins to improve the bass...

oh, and the whole floor plan :lol: .. seriously tho, cutting out as much road and traffic noise resonance as possible makes a huge difference to what you hear from your speakers...

Can you tell me how I can do this?

Be patient a day or two; I am nearing the end of my ICE project and it should be posted soon. I did all the things he mentioned. And it DOES help a lot; the system is not operational yet, but the car is much quieter than it was; I would say the road noise is down by 3 dB, roughly
It is time consuming process, but you can do it in steps; one door, another door, and only then you'd need to take the rear seat out to get acces to the rear trim panels and rear boxes....
One word of advice: get all the clips (retainers) in advance; you'll break some and you need them ALL to have a rattle free car